21 countries Unanimously Decide to Abandon the US Dollar in 2023 

By Adeke Chukwuka

Developing countries are posing a significant challenge to the US dollar’s global reserve currency status, with alliances in Asia, Africa, and South America actively seeking to reduce their dependency on the currency.

Leading this effort are groups like BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which are at the forefront of challenging the dominance of the US dollar.

Many developing nations are concerned about the potential economic impact of U.S. sanctions and are therefore motivated to strengthen their local currencies and economies.

In 2023, there is a strong momentum in de-dollarization efforts, with nearly two dozen countries actively pursuing the goal of moving away from reliance on the U.S. dollar

In 2023, two separate alliances will make official agreements to abandon the U.S. dollar for international trade.

The ASEAN bloc took a pioneering step in March 2023 when the leaders of ten Southeast Asian nations signed a declaration to cease using the U.S. dollar for cross-border transactions, opting instead to promote the use of their local currencies.

Furthermore, the BRICS alliance made a significant decision during their summit in August this year. They decided to discontinue the use of the U.S. dollar for settling international trade.

Instead, BRICS members will employ their local currencies for trade transactions and are actively exploring the possibility of establishing a shared currency among member nations. Stating importantly, that the new trade arrangement will exclusively apply within the bloc of ten member countries and not extend to nations outside the alliance.

The ASEAN group comprises 10 countries, while the BRICS alliance has expanded to include 11 member nations. In summary, a total of 21 countries have formally committed to forsake the U.S. dollar for international trade in the year 2023.

The ASEAN bloc, consisting of 10 countries, comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On the other hand, the BRICS alliance encompasses Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, along with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia, making it an 11-member group.